Posper
<< Back to Conlangs Nouns Definiteness The normal state of a noun is indefinite. For marking a noun as definite, a-''' is prefixed and the first consonant of the word is doubled. If the word begins with a vowel, 'an-' is prefixed. Examples: *'''lupus "house" *'allupus' "the house" *'lumbus.ar' "houses" *'allumbus.ar' "the houses" Number Plural form of nouns have an infix '-m-' and a suffix '-ar'. E.g.: *'lupus' "house" - lumus.ar "houses" *'siwu' "animal" - sim.ar "animals" *'suyes' "aunt" - sumyes.ar "aunts" *'moyadu' "bank" - momyadw.ar "banks" *'laboh' "hospital" - lamoh.ar "hospitals" *'mewe' "knight" - mem.ar "knights" *'wafarla' "arm" - wamfarl.ar "arms" *'wuwero' "star" - wumer.ar "stars" The clusters mb and mw collapse to a simple m'. Case The following endings are used: *Accusative: '-wu *Dative: '-t' *Genitive: '-ys' *Locative: '-uf' *Ablative: '-em' Nominative has no endings. Gender Feminine is formed with the suffix '-ni'. It is used to distinguish gender in names of living beings (animals, professions &c.). E.g.: *'yehshasn' "teacher" (man) - yehshasna.ni "teacher" (woman) - *'ahfukof' "(an animal like an) ox" - ahfukof.ni "(an animal like a) cow" Plural is made regularly from the feminine form: *'yehshasna.ni' "teacher" (woman) - yehshasma.ny.ar "teachers" (women) - *'ahfukof.ni' "(an animal like a) cow" - ahfumkof.ny.ar "(animals like) cows" Case endings are applied after the feminine ending: *Sing.: **Accusative: yehshasna.ni-wu **Dative: yehshasna.ni-t **Genitive: yehshasna.ni-ys **Locative: yehshasna.ni-uf **Ablative: yehshasna.ni-em *Plural: **Accusative: yehshasma.ny.ar-wu **Dative: yehshasma.ny.ar-t **Genitive: yehshasma.ny.ar-ys **Locative: yehshasma.ny.ar-uf **Ablative: yehshasma.ny.ar-em Examples *'nospassef' "(a) hand" *'nosparm.ar' "hands" *'annospassef' "the hand" *'annosparm.ar' "the hands" *'annospassef-uf' "in the hand" *'annosparm.ar-uf' "in the hands" *'annospassef-em' "with the hand" *'annosparm.ar-em' "with the hands" *'wanle' "(a) chief" *'waml.ar' "chiefs" *'awwanle' "the chief" *'awwaml.ar' "the chiefs" *'awwanle-ys' "of the chief" *'awwaml.ar-ys' "of the chiefs" *'awwanle-t' "to the chief" *'allupus-uf' "in the house" Adjectives Adjectives agree in definition with the nouns. Attributive adjectives come after the nouns. E.g.: *'wanle mahmusef' "(a) brave chief" *'waml.ar mahmusef' "brave chiefs" *'awwanle ammahmusef' "the brave chief" *'awwaml.ar ammahmusef' "the brave chiefs" *'awwanle-ys ammahmusef' "of the brave chief" *'awwaml.ar-ys ammahmusef' "of the brave chiefs" *'awwanle-t ammahmusef' "to the brave chief" When used as nouns, adjectives have full nominal declension: *'mahmusef' "(a) brave one" *'mahmusmif.ar' "brave ones" *'ammahmusef' "the brave one" *'ammahmusmif.ar' "the brave ones" *'ammahmusef-ys' "of the brave one" *'ammahmusmif.ar-ys' "of the brave ones" *'ammahmusef-t' "to the brave one" Comparison Comparative of superiority is made with the prefix yen-': *'mahmusef "brave" - yen-mahmusef "braver" *'wusem' "good" - yen-usem "better" Relative Superlative is made with the suffix '-ax' and the definite prefix: *'mahmusef' "brave" - ammahmusf-ax "the bravest" *'wusem' "good" - awwusm-ax "the best" Absolute Superlative is made with the prefix-suffix pair ba-...-sen: *'mahmusef' "brave" - ba-mahmusef-sen "very brave" *'wusem' "good" - ba-wusem-sen "very good" Pronouns Personal *1st person singular: sir *2nd person singular: yus *3rd person singular: len *1st person plural: rusm *2nd person plural: suw *3rd person plural: nar Possessive Possessive pronouns consist of a suffix added to the definite form of the noun. *1st person singular: (s)ak *2nd person singular: (y)ad *3rd person singular: (f)al *1st person plural: (m)am *2nd person plural: (b)ab *3rd person plural: (n)an Examples: *'allupus-ak' "my house" *'allupus-ad' "your house" *'allumus.ar-an' "their houses" Case endings come after possessive suffixes: *'allupus-ak.uf' "in my house" *'allupus-ad.ys' "from/of your house" *'annosparm.ar-ak.em' "with my hands" Sometimes the genitive form of the personal pronouns is used together with these affixes: *'sir-ys allupus-ak' "my house" *'yus-ys allupus-ad' "your house" Numbers Cardinal *0: dushuh *1: sran *2: law *3: mam *4: xerd *5: nug *6: furd *7: fel *8: mxuf *9: lom *10: yesn *11: yessran *12: yeslaw *13: yesmam *14: yesxerd *15: yesnug *16: yesfurd *17: yesfel *18: yesmxuf *19: yeslom *20: layus *30: mamar *40: xemdar *50: numgar *60: fumdar *70: femlar *80: mxumfar *90: lomar *100: nuspaseh *200: law-nuspaseh *300: mam-nuspaseh *1000: yuns *1234: yuns law-nuspaseh mamar xerd Ordinal Ordinal numbers are built with the genitive ending; the first ones have special forms: *1st: resans *2nd: lowis *3rd: yaymis *4th: nusris *5th: nugyis *6th: furdis *7th: felyis *8th: muxfyis *9th: lomyis *10th: yesnis &c. Verbs Concepts Posper verbs show a number of derivational forms that express notions like transitivity, cause, passiveness and other ideas conceived in English by means of modal verbs. Infixes are used to create derivational roots. Aspect is indicated by means of prefixes. Time is not indicated at all. Indication of person is rather complex. It depends on verb transitivity and on the existance and nature of direct objects. Derivation A verb root may have the following derivational stems: *'''-eyan-': Transitiveness. Changes an intransitive verb to a transitive one. Ex.: '''lufwis' "lie down", lufeyanwis "lay (something) down" *'''-or-': Passiveness. Changes an active to a passive verb. Ex.: '''ferhur' "see", ferhorur "be seen" *'''-oss-': Causative. Changes a normal verb to a causative verb. Ex.: '''ferhur' "see", ferhossur "show" *'''-ak-...-n''' (after the first consonant): Potentiality. Indicates ability ("can"). Ex.: ferhur "see", ferakhurn "be able to see", ferakhossurn "be able to show" *'''-wed-''' (before the last vowel): Obligation. Like English "must", "should". Ex.: lufwis "lie down", lufwedis "must lie down", ferhosswedur "must show" *'''-bay-': Volitive. Translated by "want", "wish". Ex.: '''ferhur' "see", ferbayhur "want to see", Aspect The aspects indicated in an Arish verb are the following: *'es-': Aorist. Ex.: lufwis "lie down", aor. eslufwis; lufeyanwis "lay (something) down", aor. eslufeyanwis *'de-': Perfective. Ex.: lufwis "lie down", perf. delufwis *'aws-': Inchoative. Ex.: miwu "speak", awsmiwu "start to speak" Person Intransitive Verbs Subject for intransitive verbs is indicated by means of suffixes. *1st person singular: '-(e)k' *2nd person singular: '-(e)y' *3rd person singular: '-(e)l' *1st person plural: '-(e)m' *2nd person plural: '-(e)b' *3rd person plural: '-(e)t' Transitive Verbs For Transitive verbs, the subject is indicated by means of a prefix, while direct ocbjects are indicated by meas of suffixes. Subject *1st person singular: k(e)-''' *2nd person singular: 'y(e)-' *3rd person singular: 'f(e)-' *1st person plural: 'm(e)-' *2nd person plural: 's(e)-' *3rd person plural: 't(e)-' Direct Object *1st person singular: '''-(u)s *2nd person singular: '-(u)d' *3rd person singular: '-(u)f' *1st person plural: '-(u)m' *2nd person plural: '-(u)b' *3rd person plural: '-(u)t' Examples ferhur "see" Intransitive Imperfective *1st person singular: ferhurek *2nd person singular: ferhurey *3rd person singular: ferhurel *1st person plural: ferhurem *2nd person plural: ferhureb *3rd person plural: ferhuret Aorist *1st person singular: esferhurek *2nd person singular: esferhurey *3rd person singular: esferhurel *1st person plural: esferhurem *2nd person plural: esferhureb *3rd person plural: esferhuret Perfective *1st person singular: deferhurek *2nd person singular: deferhurey *3rd person singular: deferhurel *1st person plural: deferhurem *2nd person plural: deferhureb *3rd person plural: deferhuret Transitive Imperfective *1st person singular: keferhur(uf) *2nd person singular: yeferhur(uf) *3rd person singular: feferhur(uf) *1st person plural: meferhur(uf) *2nd person plural: seferhur(uf) *3rd person plural: teferhur(uf) Aorist *1st person singular: kesferhur(uf) *2nd person singular: yesferhur(uf) *3rd person singular: fesferhur(uf) *1st person plural: mesferhur(uf) *2nd person plural: sesferhur(uf) *3rd person plural: tesferhur(uf) Perfective *1st person singular: kedeferhur(uf) *2nd person singular: yedeferhur(uf) *3rd person singular: fedeferhur(uf) *1st person plural: medeferhur(uf) *2nd person plural: sedeferhur(uf) *3rd person plural: tedeferhur(uf) Sample *'Assenlumurar ammad demeshupu-t nafgemru, gurkusn-uf ka husesmasar-uf. Nar degeworsh-et diwr-uf ka wusdas-uf, ka bunudwedan-et arruhomy.ar-t rifsusken-uf shasnu-ys.' **("All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.")